(This is CNBC Pro’s live coverage of Thursday’s analyst calls and Wall Street chatter. Please refresh every 20-30 minutes to view the latest posts.) Two tech names were top of minds for analysts on Thursday. Baird raised its price target on Apple by $40 to $240. BMO also increased its price target on Amazon to $230, implying upside of 27%. Check out the latest calls and chatter below. All times ET. 5:51 a.m.: Stifel downgrades Lamb Weston following weak earnings report Stifel moved to the sidelines on Lamb Weston after a disappointing earnings report prompted the frozen potato supplier’s worst day in its history. Analyst Matthew Smith downgraded the stock to hold from buy and slashed $55 off his price target, bringing it to $60. With that, Smith sees another 2.5% in downside from Wednesday’s close. Lamb Weston plummeted more than 28% in Wednesday’s session, marking its biggest daily loss going back to when it went public in late 2016. That comes after the company missed expectations of analysts polled by FactSet on both lines for the fiscal fourth quarter and issued weak guidance for full-year earnings per share and adjusted EBITDA. “We foresee limited downside from these levels and recommend investors hold their positions in Lamb Weston,” Smith told clients in a Wednesday note, citing the impact of that day’s decline on the stock. Smith pointed to the weaker outlook for the 2025 fiscal year and multiple compression as reasons for Wednesday’s sell-off. He called this “appropriate” because of the volatility and potential for a more competitive pricing environment in the medium term. His new target comes from assigning a multiple of 9 times the enterprise value-to-EBITDA based on the 2025 estimates, which he said is more in line with agricultural peers. This makes sense, Smith said, given the backdrop of dormant capacity and weak demand for the company. Lamb Weston slipped around 0.7% before the bell on Thursday. With Wednesday’s slide, shares are now down more than 47% in 2024. On Thursday, Cowen joined the downgrade party and cut its price target for Lamb Weston by $44 to $61. That fresh target suggests shares can bounce by around 8.1%. — Alex Harring 5:43 a.m.: Apple Intelligence can help stock remain smart pick, Baird says Apple Intelligence can provide upward momentum for the big technology stock — even if consumers don’t upgrade devices as often, according to Baird. Analyst William Power reiterated his outperform rating on the tech titan and hiked his price target by $40 to $240. Power now anticipates 9.8% upside from Wednesday’s closing level. Power pointed to new lows in AT & T and Verizon in upgrades as evidence that the trade up to new devices could continue slowing, which can be bad news for the product maker. Instead, he said investors should look at the use of AI within Apple Intelligence as a reason for optimism. “We have recommended AAPL for years on the back of its expanding eco-system, growing services contribution, strong cash flow and innovation leadership,” Power wrote in a Thursday note to clients. “Following years of slowing upgrade rates … we believe Apple Intelligence could provide a much-needed upgrade catalyst, boosting revenue and EPS growth meaningfully.” Additionally, he still raised the 2025 revenue forecasts for the iPhone and the business as a whole by 9.3% and 5.9%, respectively. Both are above Wall Street consensus, the analyst noted. Power’s note comes ahead of Apple’s earnings report slated for early August. While shares slipped around 0.8% in Thursday’s premarket, the stock is up by more than 13% on the year. AAPL YTD mountain AAPL year to date — Alex Harring 5:43 a.m.: BMO raises Amazon price target Amazon’s cloud business should continue driving shares higher, according to BMO Capital Markets. Analyst Brian Pitz raised his price target on the stock to $230 from $220 and reiterated his outperform rating on the tech and e-commerce giant. The new forecast implies upside of 27% from Wednesday’s close. “With greater visibility following Google results, we monitor the incremental nominal dollar difference between [Google Cloud Platform] and [Amazon Web Services] since 2018 and are comfortable at +19%. As companies invest to stay competitive, we believe AWS is on a sustainable revenue growth trajectory through at least 2025,” Pitz wrote. Additionally, the analyst sees 20% year-over-year growth in Prime Day volume. Amazon shares have climbed 19% this year. However, they are down more than 6% in July. AMZN YTD mountain AMZN year to date — Fred Imbert
